Report: Zimbabwe targets human rights activists

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A new report says Zimbabwe punitively uses its laws and beatings by security forces to suppress human rights activists in the nation.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, part of a French rights organization, released the report Monday. The report details the abuse of several human rights activists, including a woman abducted from her home, who was then beaten and tortured by security agents. The report also outlines the arrest of another activist who was detained for weeks and questioned about her work after police took her into custody saying her car was allegedly near the scene of a killing.

The report highlights worries ahead for the country as President Robert Mugabe pushes for constitutional amendments and elections next year to end his ZANU-PF party’s uneasy coalition government with the opposition party.